DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. and a local union agreed Thursday on
contract terms that could end a monthlong strike at a Michigan plant which makes
some of GM's hottest selling vehicles.
The Detroit automaker and UAW Local 602 agreed on the tentative pact in the
early morning hours, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. UAW Local 602 represents
3,300 workers at the Delta Township plant, which makes GM's hot-selling Buick
Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossovers.
Workers at the Lansing-area plant, who have been on strike since April 17,
will remain on strike until the contract is ratified. Flores said the company
expects the vote will be held soon. In a message to members on its Web site, UAW
Local 602 said more information would be available later Thursday.
GM and the UAW reached a national contract agreement last fall, but local
unions negotiate their own work rules and other issues. A UAW local at a plant
in Kansas City, Kan., which makes the popular Chevrolet Malibu sedan remains on
strike. That strike began May 5.
The end of the strike at Delta Township and the canceling of a threatened
strike that had been scheduled to start Thursday at a GM stamping plant near
Mansfield, Ohio, could signal the national UAW is close to a contract agreement
at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.
GM is American Axle's largest customer, and many industry analysts have
suggested the local UAW strikes were an effort to draw GM into the negotiations.
GM has offered $200 million for buyouts and supplemental pay for workers at
American Axle in an effort to bring the 80-day strike to a close.
The UAW has denied that the local strikes were related to American Axle.
On Wednesday, GM canceled health care benefits for the striking workers at
Delta Township, saying it was not obligated to offer those benefits during a
strike. Flores said benefits will be reinstated when workers are back on the
job. It was the first time GM has canceled benefits for strikers since a 47-day
strike in Flint in 1998.
An official at Local 602 said the UAW was picking up the tab for health
benefits. The UAW also is paying workers $200 a week in strike pay.
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